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House of Windsor
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The House of Windsor is the current Royal House of the United Kingdom and each of the other Commonwealth realms. The royal house was created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by George V by a royal proclamation in 1917. The House of Windsor remains one of the few dynasties to have ruled over lands on all continents of the world simultaneously. The current head of the House of Windsor is Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch over the Commonwealth realms.
n Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha son of Duke Ernst I of the small German duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.
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The House of Windsor is the current Royal House of the United Kingdom and each of the other Commonwealth realms. The royal house was created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha by George V by a royal proclamation in 1917. The House of Windsor remains one of the few dynasties to have ruled over lands on all continents of the world simultaneously. The current head of the House of Windsor is Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch over the Commonwealth realms.
Descendants of Victoria
Queen Victoria was married to Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha son of Duke Ernst I of the small German duchy of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. Her descendants were also members of the ducal family of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, a minor branch of the thousand year old House of Wettin. Victoria's son, Edward VII, and, in turn, his son, George V, reigned as members of this house.
However, high anti-German sentiment amongst the people of the British Empire during World War I prompted the King and his family to abandon all titles held under the German Crown, and to change German sounding titles and house names to English sounding versions. Hence, on 17 July 1917, a Royal Proclamation issued by George V provided that he and all his agnatic descendants would be members of the House of Windsor, with the personal surname Windsor if they did not have a title. The name had a long association with royalty, through the town of Windsor and Windsor Castle, a link reflected in the Round Tower of Windsor Castle being the basis of the badge of the House of Windsor. On the same day, Prince Louis of Battenberg adopted the surname Mountbatten, which is the literal translation into English. Prince Louis is the maternal grandfather of The Duke of Edinburgh. From the point of view of the king and his relatives, to think of them as German was ludicrous. George V, had a German grandfather who died before he was born. Prince Louis of Battenberg had become naturalized British citizen at the age of 14 after which he immediately entered the Royal Navy.
Upon hearing that his cousin had changed the name of the British royal house to Windsor, German Emperor Wilhelm II remarked jokingly that he planned to see Shakespeare's play The Merry Wives of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. The two cousins were photographed riding horses together in 1910 at the funeral of George's father, Edward VII , and again at Potsdam Palace three years later.
The name change helped the Royal Family keep the loyalty of the British people, and the United Kingdom retained the monarchy, allowing King George to avoid the fate of two of his first cousins,Wilhelm II and Nicholas II of Russia, who were both deposed, the latter also being murdered with his entire family. The ancient monarchies of Austro-Hungary and the Ottoman empire were also removed from power in the aftermath of World War I.
Descendants of Elizabeth II
When Princess Elizabeth (as she then was) married Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, the standard practice would be to adopt his family household name. Because he was a prince, Prince Philip did not have a surname but he was of the House of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Glücksburg, a minor branch of the House of Oldenburg. Not wishing to repeat the difficulties of three decades ago, before his marriage Prince Philip renounced his titles and adopted the surname, Mountbatten, which his maternal grandfather had created in 1917.
In her British Privy Council, on 9 April 1952, Queen Elizabeth II officially declared her "Will and Pleasure that I and My children shall be styled and known as the House and Family of Windsor, and that my descendants who marry and their descendants, shall bear the name of Windsor.". On 8 February 1960, the Queen confirmed that she and her children would continue to be known as the House and Family of Windsor, as would any agnatic descendants who enjoy the style of His/Her Royal Highness, and the title of prince or princess. Still, Elizabeth also decreed that her agnatic descendants who do not have that style and title would bear the surname Mountbatten-Windsor,.
Any future monarch can change the dynastic name through a similar royal proclamation, but it is not anticipated that HRH The Prince of Wales will change the name of the royal family.
Complete List of Members the House of Windsor
Statistics for the House of Windsor
- CREATION: When the House of Windsor was created in 1917 the only members were King George V, and his 6 unmarried children ranging in age from 23 to 12. The death of The Prince John at age 13, was the first change. No subsequent child in the Windsor family has been named John.
- KING GEORGE VI: In 1936, when King George VI became king there were 8 Windsors in the line of succession (2 daughters, 3 siblings, and 3 nephews). A niece was born 2 weeks later. The oldest brother, Edward VIII, was not in the line having abdicated the throne to marry the woman of his choice.
- ELIZABETH II: In 1952, when Elizabeth became Queen, there was 13 Windsors in the line (2 children, 1 sister, 1 nephew, 1 uncle, 1 aunt, 7 first cousins).
This list is complete as of 1 Jan 2009. King George V, creator of the House of Windsor has 80 known descendants in four generations. Out of the 80 known descendants, 1 is currently the monarch and 54 family members are in the line of succession. Members who are (1) Catholic or (2) married to Catholics, or (3) illegitimate or legitimated by marriage are excluded by peerage regulations. Spouses are not included in the list.
The first generation of illegitimate children on this table are all legitimatio per matrimonium subsequens or legitimated by subsequent marriage. Under British law, they and their descendants are forever excluded from the line of succession. In some cases they are also excluded from other titles. Other monarchies are different. Monaco, for instance recognizes these children as eligible for the throne. There are no other illegitimate children openly acknowledged by members of the family.
The Catholics are from three families. Prince Michael married his Catholic wife in 1978, but his children were raised in communion with the Anglican church and are still eligible. The Duke of Kent's (#24) wife converted to Catholicism decades after they were married. Her later conversion does not exclude him. However his two sons have converted to Catholicism. One son has 3 children, and the other one has a baby. Of these four children, only Lady Amelia Windsor (#25) is still in the line, but it is presumed that she will follow the lead of her siblings and parents and be baptized when she is older.
Jurisdictions
At the creation of the House of Windsor, its head reigned over a unitary British Empire. Following the end of the First World War, however, geo-political shifts took place that saw the emergence of the Dominions as sovereign states, the first step being the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in 1926, followed by the Royal and Parliamentary Titles Act the next year, and the Statute of Westminster in 1931. From then on, the House of Windsor became the royal house of multiple countries, a number that shifted over the decades as various Dominions and Crown colonies gained independence, and various of those moved to become monarchies under a different sovereign or a republic. Since 1949, the head of the House of Windsor is also Head of the Commonwealth of Nations, comprising most (but not all) parts of the former British Empire and some states that were never part of it.
In the chart below, the countries are differentiated between light green (realms of the House of Windsor as Dominions), medium green (present realms of the House of Windsor), and dark green (former realms of the House of Windsor).
House of Windsor and the Line of Succession
When the House of Windsor was created, it renamed the Royal House of the King and his six children. However, there was no law passed to limit the Line of Succession. In addition to the 6 Windsor children, the next 5 on the list were British. Even considering the dangers of wartime, it was highly unlikely that a series of disasters would occur so that the sovereign would pass outside of the kingdom. The British members were followed by the royal members in Norway, Romania, and Russia. Wilhelm II, German Emperor, the first cousin of King George was on the list (albeit numbered higher than 50). The line of succession full of Germans did not disturb the public as much as the Germanic household names, the Germanic titles, and the photos of their king riding with the Emperor of Germany taken only three years earlier. As H.G. Wells put it, the royalty was "an alien and uninspiring Court".
By Jan 1, 1921 the line of succession to the British throne had surpassed a thousand people (not excluding Catholics), and it was roughly half Germans. The line historically included all of the Kings of Prussia except the first king. The line did include his consort.
Descendants of Edward VII
The House of Windsor was created from the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (a minor branch of the House of Wettin). Officially, Edward VII was the only British monarch to rule as a member of this house. George V is considered to be a member of the House of Windsor. The 7 living descendants of Lady Maud Duff are considered part of the extended British Royal family. The Norwegian royal family is the closest family to the Windsors.
Further reading
- Longford, Elizabeth Harman (Countess of Longford). The Royal House of Windsor. Revised ed. Crown, 1984.
- Roberts, Andrew. The House of Windsor. University of California Press, 2000.
See also
External links
- from royal.gov.uk
- from royal.gov.uk
- from royal.gov.uk [Lord Culloden & Albert Windsor are missing]
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